November 26, 2023 Happy Thanksgiving- Let the contest begin

Welcome to the Mears Garden blog. This week  the winter picture contest for 2023-24 begins.

But before we look at pictures it is a time to reflect. It is a time to give thanks. It is a time to think about the future. It is time to start the countdown to warmer times.

In the garden, the big dark, as a friend used to describe it, has arrived. Normal temperatures have arrived here in Iowa. That means daytime temperatures in the 30's, with hard freezes every night. I do quite a bit of blog writing in the dark. 

Update: Overnight we had the first snow. It was only about an inch. But it was snow, covering the garden. 

I do like to start this first week of the contest with pictures from the real beginning of the garden season. In 2023 that was in mid February. Mid February is less than 3 months away. 

February 12, 2023

February 15, 2023

With those images in mind, let us get to the contest for 2023-2024.

The winter picture contest

Our little way of getting through the winter

The first contest was in 2005. There has been contests each winter ever since, skipping one year. The reason why I missed that one year eludes me at this point, which is fine.

For 13 weeks there will be a contest between 5 pictures from the garden in 2023. You get to vote, using a poll located on the website. The 13 winners and several wildcards advance to the next round. After a final vote, the picture of the year will be selected. By that point, hopefully, spring will either be here, or will be right around the corner.

The pictures are posted early on Sunday morning, with voting available all week. Everyone in the household can vote. I think if you refresh the post that allows another vote to be cast.

Technology hint - How to vote on your phone.  If you are viewing the blog on your phone, you must scroll to the bottom and click on "view web version." That will get you to the poll.

Comments are encouraged and much appreciated.  Upon request I also send out an email when the new post is available. If you do not already get these reminders, send me an email if you would like this notice.  My address is philip.mears@gmail.com

 Some people like to comment by using the reply to the email. Others use the comments section at the end of the post. I always am interested in why you picked a particular picture. Comments can be about any subject however, including how your garden is doing or what you think of Julia's recipe.

Other features of the blog, during the contest include:

        There of course are the contestants, and the announcement of the winner from the previous week. If you are interested you can check back during the week to see how the contest is going.

        You vote in the poll section. If it is working correctly, you can see each week's vote totals going back to the beginning of the contest. Voting ends at the end of the day on Saturday. There are always a few people who wait to vote to the very end. This can add some suspense if the vote is close.

        There is a "bonus" section.   This contains other pictures related to the contestants. Sometimes for example I will show you the same picture, only with different cropping. 

        There can be a section called "right now." This contains pictures from the garden taken this week. Mostly those will be inside pictures.

        Then of course there is Julia's recipe. She has been doing recipes since the summer of 2016, when that awful election was going on. Katie made us a separate blog for all of her past recipes. It is located at 

https://mearskitchen.wordpress.com/

        Finally there is a section called "Odds and Ends." It contains things I have found odd. It is also located at the End of the blog. 

So let us do it. For 2023-24. 

The first week's contestants.

#1 Tulip acuminata May 2, 2023

Acuminata is in the tulip grouping called "species tulips." That means it is not a hybrid. That also means it is more likely to come back every year. 

I also think that species tulips do not taste as good to deer. A survival trait for any plant is not tasting good. None of the very early spring bulbs taste good.

I particularly liked this picture with the vertical lines of the flower being reflected in the greenery all around it.

#2 Gray Shirley poppy June 2, 2023

The first year for Shirley poppies was 2021. They are now a permanent member of the garden, or as permanent as any annual can be.

I discovered that they come in various shades of grey. I bought some of the seed a year ago and was not disappointed.

I grow Shirley poppies from seed each year. In past years I grew Iceland poppies the same way.  I start them right after the first of the year. Actually I now understand that I should wait for the first of February this year. I discovered that if started that early, the plants are too big in March. While poppies can deal with a light frost, they still should not be put in the garden until April. 

What is there to like in any picture? There of course is the color, or perhaps the color contrast. Then there can be symmetry or lack thereof. 

So what can I tell you about Shirley poppies? 

They are a cultivar in the species Papaver rhoeas. Those are the red flowered poppies known as the Flanders poppy and in a judgmental world, as the common poppy.

 

They are mostly annuals, but they can self seed if there are enough of them.

They last until about July. The heat does them in. 

They were developed by a vicar in England named William Wilks. That was in the 19th century. He was the vicar of a parish named....wait for it.... Shirley.

#3 Colorful coneflower July 13, 2023

I really like coneflowers, in all shapes and colors. At the same time I have not been able to keep good track of names.

I liked this picture as it was so symmetrcial. I rotated it several times, having a hard time telling which was the correct orientation.

Coneflowers do come from prairie plants. For that reason they like lots of sun. That limits my use of them to certain parts of the garden Wanting more sun means they have to compete with iris, daylilies and many more sun loving plants.

Varieties of coneflowers exploded in the last twenty years. Coneflowers that were purple, white and yellow, were crossed with each other to produce lots of colors, and lots of shapes. If you look at a plant catalogue this year, it will probably have more pages devoted to coneflowers than any other type of flower.

The botanical name for the genus is echinacea. The name echinacea comes from the Greek word meaning hedgehog. Think about that spiny central disk. Also understand that the Euopeans named this north American plant. 

The Lakota name for the purple coneflower found on the prairie is ichahpe hu.

As a group of plants they have many health benefits.

The plant is somewhat unusual in that it comes from eastern and central North America.

Here is the wikipedia page.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Echinacea

There are many hybrids developed over the last few decades. Names include Cantalope, Butterfly Kisses, and Tomato Soup. Bluestone Perennials lists 48 varieties. Here is that link with pictures.

https://www.bluestoneperennials.com/genus/Echinacea

#4 Bright yellow hibiscus August 7, 2023

We have had this yellow hibiscus for years. It is probably 6 feet tall. It has to come inside for the winter. 

This picture does in a very nice way present the color yellow.

I had early visions of turning it into a standard. There was never enough light for that. So mostly it is tall. It blooms all the time. It has had two blossoms in the basement (under lights) in the past week. 

Hibiscus are in the mallow family. 

Some mallows are hardy, and in the garden. See the bonus section.

The Rose of Sharon is a bush in the mallow family. We grew Okra this summer in our detached city garden plot. It's a mallow. There are hardy hisbiscus that grow here. Starry, Starry, Night is one of them we have had for several years.

#5 Tommies with ice March 11, 2023

I love pictures with the early spring bulbs and snow. Here there are the little "tommies" (tommasinianus crocus) not minding the snow, at all.

It naturalizes quickly, and is just about the first crocus to bloom in the spring. Some people think of crocus as the greek word for squirrel food. I has been my experience that planting most crocus bulbs can be a trick with a neighborhood full of squirrels. Actually the"tommies" as they are called do not attract squirrels. They do not taste as good as most of the rest. That only makes sense if you think of them appearing early in the spring. If they tasted good, they would not have made it this far.

Other tommy facts:

They are sometimes called the snow crocus. Guess why? 

It is from eastern europe, but not as far as the Causasus. 

They are not expensive. You can get a 1000 for as little as $72. And that was the regular price, before the current sales.

It would be tempting to get a few hundred and plant them in the lawn. But not really. The ground should be frozen any night now.

Bonus Pictures

This is the section where I show you pictures related to the contestants, that did not make it into the contest. 

Sometimes it is difficult to decide which picture to include in the contest. There were quite a few wonderful "grey" Shirley poppies. Here were the two where the choice was hard.

I chose the one on the left, for the additional color. But I also really liked the one on the right. Look at that picture in full size. What do you think.

As I looked back at the pictures for the thrid time I found these other "grey" Shirley poppies. This is your one look at Shirleys from this seed pack.

Coneflowers from 2023

The centers have such wonderful patterns. They are spirals of all those little spears.

This is the picture that produced, with some cropping, contestant #3. I actually like the way this uncropped picture has the not yet blooming flowers.

This was almost in the contest.

Tommies- the early crocuses

Early bulbs are the most likely to be effected by special climate zones within the garden. The front yard is often the part of the garden where the snow melts last. The backyard, which is on the south side of the house, is sometimes 2-3 weeks ahead of the frontyard. 

Aconite, snowdrops, and the early crocuses start in the backyard, and move to the front over several weeks.

Here are tommie pictures. (Other crocuses will appear later in the contest.)

Sometimes a narrowly cropped picture really is pleasant. The brown leaves in the spring are a good background.

The colors do vary a little.

More Mallows

This is okra. We grew okra for the first time this year. Once I saw the flower I understood why it is in the mallow family.

Starry, Starry, Night. 

This plant that produced the contestant, was doing well this summer until some late deer damage. 

This is Rose of Sharon, a late blooming shrub.

species tulips

Right Now

The kale we grew from seed is doing well. I can imagine trying different kinds next year and starting them earlier. They really can create interest in November. I do think they could be accompanied by some dusty miller, which is a nice bright gray that holds up well into November. I will try to get some pictures today with the snow.

This little orchid hangs over the kitchen sink. It is so cheerful. Its name is Maxillaria variabilis. We have had it for almost ten years.

This cactus at the office will have some flowers all winter. 

I divided this cattleya called Arctic Snow this last winter. Now I have 4-5 blooming size plants. Since they can bloom more than once in a season, we have one of these blooming almost all the time.

Julia's recipe

Green beans with potatoes and almond butter

A few weeks ago I posted a recipe for green beans with warm spices and tahini. I read from someone who is not a fan of tahini, and almost immediately thereafter, I came across a recipe for green beans with some potato and a different set of spices and almond butter. Variation on a theme. It's good. And there's no tahini!

The ingredients:

1 russet potato, peeled and diced to yield something like 1 cup of potato cubes;

8 oz. fresh green beans;

4 tablespoons olive oil;

1-1/2 teaspoon smushed garlic;

1-1/2 teaspoon grated ginger;

1/2 ( or more) kosher salt;

1/4 teaspoon black pepper;

1-1/2 teaspoon ground cumin;

1-1/2 teaspoon ground coriander;

2 tablespoons almond butter; and

a splash (1 teaspoon or a bit more) lime juice.

You can use regular salad oil if you don't have olive oil. You can use frozen green bean pieces if you don't have fresh (which would also cut down on prep time). You can use yukon gold instead of russet potato. Don't use red potato - wrong texture. 

I peeled and diced the potato (into pieces about 1/2" scubes). And grated the ginger and then smushed the garlic.

Next, I put all the spices (garlic, ginger, coriander, cumin, and pepper) into a little bowl with 1/2 of the salt.  

I warmed the oil in a large non-stick skillet and added the potatoes and 1/2 of the salt. I was looking to brown the potatoes, but not over high heat. More like medium-high. It took maybe 5 minutes with just a little stirring.

While the potatoes were cooking, I cleaned and cut up the green beans. 

Here are the potatoes after about 5 minutes. 

Action video of dumping the green beans into the skillet followed by 1/4 cup of water. Sizzling and noise. I cooked the green beans on medium heat for about 3 or 4 minutes. If you use frozen green beans, you will not need much (or maybe any) water. Medium heat, lid on the skillet for a few minutes until the beans are sort of cooked but not at all mushy. 

Next I added the contents of the little spice bowl and stirred eveything up. I let the mixture cook for a minute or two until I could begin to smell the garlic and ginger. 

After the spices were mixed in, I added a blob of almond butter. I stirred a little and then turned the heat off. I wanted the almond butter to melt but that's it.

Just before serving, I stirred in some lime juice (less than 1 tablespoon) to liven things up. 

On the table. We had this dish with salmon and salad and berries and yogurt. 

Taste for salt and pepper - I found the dish needed a little more of both. 

Odds and Ends

The picture contest started almost twenty years ago. That is a long time. There was a post in January, 2008 when we were all going to caucus for Barak Obama. Then there was COVID, when Katie and family trekked across country and lived with us for two months. 

In the midst of all that history there has been the garden. So many different enthusiasms. 

2023 was a challenging year, with our part of Iowa experiencing a real drought. Johnson County is the one all in deep red, with the boot heel.

It has not been the best year for the world, our country, or the state. Peace seems a long way away, even with temporary cease fires in one of the world's hot spots. I try not to think about politics.

As we avoid the worst of the news, we must all do whatever small things we can to make this a kinder and fairer world, country and state.

In the meantime we must get through the big dark, and even more than usual welcome the new beginning in just a few months.

I hope you enjoy the blog.

Please vote in the contest, and get your friends and relations to vote too. It is always good to hear from you.

Philip